The county has basked in hot and humid weather this week, with Friday being the hottest day of the year so far after temperatures reached 30.4C (86.7F) at Lakenheath – beating yesterday’s high of 26.4C (79.5F) at Cavendish.

But further storms and thundery weather is forecast for the county, especially the eastern region, over the next 48 hours after storms hit overnight.

Dan Holley, forecaster at East-Anglian based Weatherquest, said: “There will be a dry start to Friday evening with an increased risk of thunderstorms later on, most likely after midnight.”

Further showers and storms are predicted during Saturday morning before clearing in the afternoon.

But Mr Holley said there could be “rogue” thunderstorms during Saturday evening, before heavy downpours and thunderstorms return again during Sunday.

He said: “Temperatures on Saturday will not be quite has high as they were on Friday, but will not be far off, and on Sunday it will still be in the mid-20sC (around 77F) at the very least.”

Meanwhile, flash floods could cause severe disruption to the region over the weekend, a Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said.

He said: “Saturday could see the potential for some intense thunderstorms. These could see large rainfall totals in a short space of time, which could cause flash flooding, as well as lightning and large hail.

“This remains a risk rather than a certainty at the moment and while the likelihood of seeing one of these storms is low, those areas which are unfortunate could be severely affected.”

He said torrential rain could lead to some treacherous driving conditions, “significant” surface water flooding, road closures, river flooding in fast responding urban catchments, some property flooding, as well as impacts caused by hail and lightning such as localised power cuts.

He added: “Although winds will generally be mostly light, there may be some isolated squally gusts associated with any thunderstorms. These could affect people camping, various outdoor events with tents and gazebos, as well as trees in full leaf.”